Latinos

By the time Thomas Lopez died of COVID-19 on April 2, social distancing had taken hold in Washington. But the disparate effects the disease was having on the state’s Latino population was not yet clear.

The data that have emerged since then are stark. Latinos only make up about 13 percent of Washington's population. But they make up more than a third of the state's COVID-19 cases.

President Donald Trump’s immigration policies created a sense of urgency at the annual Latino Legislative Day the Washington state Capitol Monday. Several hundred activists converged in Olympia, Washington, with a message for state lawmakers.

It's no secret that Donald Trump is struggling to woo Hispanics voters. He's currently polling worse with Latinos than Mitt Romney in 2012 (In that election, Romney captured just 27 percent of the Hispanic vote.).

But on Wednesday night, the Trump campaign might have a chance to shift its messaging ever-so-slightly when three Hispanic Republicans take center stage during prime time. Two of them, former GOP presidential candidates, are familiar faces from the primary season: Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Florida Sen. Marco (who will deliver a video message).